Bush Pays Tribute to Columbia Crew

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, February 4, 2003

President Bush said the drive to explore that led seven shuttle astronauts to their deaths was not a mere choice but rather a "desire written in the human heart."

Paying tribute to the Columbia crew on Tuesday along with at least 10,000 saddened NASA employees and fellow astronauts, past and present, the president pledged anew that "America's space program will go on."

Bush bowed his head and first lady Laura Bush wiped tears from her eyes as the United States Navy Band Sea Chanters led the crowd in song at the start of the service.

At one point, the president pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to a weeping relative of a crew member.

Columbia broke up Saturday as it was returning to earth.

"Their mission was almost complete, and we lost them so close to home," Bush said as he began his remarks in a plaza outside Mission Control at Johnson Space Center.

"Our whole nation was blessed to have such men and women serving in our space program," Bush said.

"This cause of exploration and discovery is not an option we choose; it is a desire written in the human heart. We find the best among us, send them forth into unmapped darkness, and pray they will return. They go in peace for all mankind, and all mankind is in their debt.

"Yet, some explorers do not return. And the loss settles unfairly on a few," he said. "The people of NASA are being tested again."

The service ended with seven tolls of a Navy bell _ one for each downed astronaut _ and a "missing man" formation flyover. Four NASA jets roared above the crowd, with one peeling away and soaring high and out of sight.

Aides said Bush told family members afterward in a private meeting: "I"m sorry that we have to meet under these circumstances. God bless you all."

Navy Chaplain Harold Robinson led the memorial service in prayer and said the astronauts found true humility while viewing "our little planet from outer space."

Fighting through tears, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said "our grief is overwhelming" and promised to find out what happened to Columbia and make sure it doesn't happen again.

"We will keep this solemn pledge," he told family members.

The president and first lady were accompanied on Air Force One to the ceremony by former astronauts Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, and John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth.

Crew members were remembered in separate eulogies that shared with the world their nicknames, habits, likes and dislikes and, in many cases, some of the last words they spoke.

O'Keefe recalled that mission specialist Kalpana Chawla, 41, told Mission Control how beautiful the Earth looked from miles above as she summoned her fellow crew members to the shuttle window, where the world was reflected in her eye.

"It is this image, the image of Columbia's crew joyfully joining Kalpana to see our beautiful planet reflected in their friend's eye, that we will remember and treasure forever," O'Keefe said.

The president spoke briefly about each astronaut.

Chawla, a native of India, wanted to reach for the stars, Bush said, and "she went there and beyond."

Col. Ilan Ramon, 48, son of a Holocaust survivor and Israel's first space traveler, spoke of the quiet of space and was quoted by Bush as saying, "I only hope that the quiet can one day spread to my country."

Air Force Col. Rick Husband, the shuttle commander, 45, loved the hymn "How Great Thou Art," which includes the phrase: "I see the stars. I hear the mighty thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed."

Columbia pilot William McCool, 41, was a former Eagle Scout and "fearless test pilot," Bush said.

And payload commander Michael Anderson, 43, who Bush said recently told his pastor, "If this thing doesn't come out right, don't worry about me; I'm just going on higher."